The financial burden of so-called lifestyle illnesses in working people aged 45 and over is costing federal and state governments hundreds of millions of dollars annually, reveals the first major study of its kind.

The Sax Institute's 45 and Up study has been tracking about 10 per cent of the New South Wales population in relation to health costs.

It found a ballooning cost of lifestyle diseases — which includes heart disease, stroke, obesity and type 2 diabetes — which has prompted calls for greater investment in workplace-based interventions on exercise and nutrition.

The itemised bill for lifestyle illnesses in NSW alone was $330 million for heart disease, $170 million for blood clots, $92 million for strokes, $87 million for hypertension, almost $40 million for obesity, and $35 million for type 2 diabetes.

Professor Emily Banks, the scientific director of the Sax Institute, said the study found that around $1 in every $6 spent in the hospital system for people aged 45 and over was attributable to high body weight index (BMI).

"That is people who are overweight or obese," she said.

"So we know it's a really large problem, but what we're getting from the 45 and Up study is reliable data about what it's like in the real world out there."

And she said that real world impact was being felt in hospitals and on health budgets.

"If we can stop one case of heart attack or stroke from prevention, that's several thousand in one hit."

On-site health checks result in 8pc drop in unplanned sickies

Dr Bev Lloyd, manager of the $12 million Get Healthy At Work program at the NSW Office of Preventative Health, said they had carried out about 21,000 health checks so far in the past two years, and had enrolled about 7,000 businesses.

Last year his company arranged on-site health checks, and started buying fresh bread and fruit boxes for the workforce of 60 shift workers who are mostly men aged over 40.

"Comparing the six months prior to being involved in the program and the six months since we got involved in it, there's been an 8 per cent reduction in unplanned sick leave.

"Now that's really a very important, very easily quantifiable benefit, it's enormous because we're a really small business, so if someone doesn't turn up for a shift, it creates all sorts of problems.

"So that's been a really important and measurable benefit.

"For the life of me I can't see any good reason not to be involved, it's just a complete positive as far as we consider it."

Prevention efforts 'need to be turbo-charged'

Stephen Jan, a professor of health economics at the George Institute for Global Health, said prevention efforts needed to be turbo-charged and better targeted.

"There is a very clear cut economic case for investing more in disease prevention programs, particularly in the workplace," he said.

"Because what we found is just remarkably high costs associated with preventable conditions.

"So one way is to look at where we're currently spending and look at that as an opportunity in which we can sort of mobilise our resources more effectively and channel them towards prevention, rather than continually be worrying about treating people once they've already experienced illness."

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